tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/disadvantaged-children-36581/articlesDisadvantaged children – The Conversation2022-03-09T19:09:11Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1784262022-03-09T19:09:11Z2022-03-09T19:09:11Z‘I just go to school with no food’ – why Australia must tackle child poverty to improve educational outcomes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450596/original/file-20220308-44826-114p4ii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5760%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>About <a href="https://povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Poverty-in-Australia-2020_Part-1_Overview.pdf">one in six children</a> in Australia live in poverty. These children generally have poorer educational outcomes than more advantaged children. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy/article/who-excludes-young-peoples-experience-of-social-exclusion/F817D2FE8C0742EED5C38669853D680A">Our recently published research</a> shows students who live in poverty also experience more social exclusion at school than their more advantaged peers. </p>
<p>These findings suggests disadvantage at home carries over into disadvantage at school. </p>
<p>Interventions such as anti-bullying programs and increased funding for schools in disadvantaged communities can help. However, our analysis suggests there’s a bigger structural problem. To reduce educational disadvantage, action is needed to reduce child poverty, which has remained stubbornly high since the early 2000s.</p>
<p>In 1987, Prime Minister Bob Hawke famously <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx0IeQQ7WjI">pledged</a> to end child poverty by 1990. As a result of his government’s actions, child poverty initially <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1475-4932.2000.tb00020.x">declined</a> before increasing again. Child poverty rates now are only <a href="https://povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Poverty-in-Australia-2020_Part-1_Overview.pdf">slightly lower</a> than in 1999.</p>
<p>In that time, child poverty has been largely absent from policy agendas. Failure to act on poverty will cripple the <a href="https://theconversation.com/life-chances-policy-must-respond-to-the-real-lives-of-young-people-27425">life chances</a> and productivity of future generations. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bx0IeQQ7WjI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">As prime minister, Bob Hawke put child poverty on the agenda with his pledge that no child would live in poverty by 1990.</span></figcaption>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/by-2030-no-australian-child-will-be-living-in-poverty-why-cant-we-promise-that-64166">By 2030, 'no Australian child will be living in poverty' – why can't we promise that?</a>
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<h2>The high costs of social exclusion at school</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy/article/who-excludes-young-peoples-experience-of-social-exclusion/F817D2FE8C0742EED5C38669853D680A#article">Our research</a> has looked at the schooling experiences of 3,535 students aged 13 to 14 in in every state and territory. </p>
<p>Children whose families lacked items most Australian households take for granted, such as cars, computers or holidays, were identified as experiencing family poverty. Children who reported lacking items that most children see as essential were identified as experiencing child deprivation. These items included clothes that allowed them to fit in with other children, and their family having money to send them on school camp. </p>
<p>The proportions living in family poverty or child deprivation were highest among children who experienced multiple forms of disadvantage. One in five children with a disability lived in poverty, as did one in three who had a caring responsibility for a family member. Over one in four Indigenous children and children with a language background other than English also lived in poverty. By comparison, this was the case for only one in eight children who were not part of a marginalised group. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-quarter-of-australian-11-12-year-olds-dont-have-the-literacy-and-numeracy-skills-they-need-148912">One quarter of Australian 11-12 year olds don't have the literacy and numeracy skills they need</a>
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<p>Teachers make great <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1359866X.2019.1602863">efforts to support</a> the education of disadvantaged students. Despite these efforts, children living in poverty have <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/3522482/Breaking-Down-Barriers-Report-1-October-2020.pdf">lower school completion rates</a> and lower scores on national tests such as <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/11_2017/sprp47_low_income_web.pdf">NAPLAN</a>. And our study shows the effects of poverty still permeate school classrooms and playgrounds. </p>
<p>In our study, we asked children how much they agreed with the statement: “At my school, there is a teacher or another adult: who really cares about me; who believes that I will be a success; who listens to me when I have something to say.” The children experiencing deprivation reported less support from their teachers. They also reported higher rates of bullying than non-deprived children. </p>
<p>These experiences were in turn associated with students reporting lower levels of life satisfaction. That’s an early indicator of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716203260078">mental health problems</a> in youth and adulthood. </p>
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<img alt="Upset girl being comforted by teacher in school corridor" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Children living in poverty report higher rates of bullying and lower levels of life satisfaction than their more advantaged peers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-children-think-of-economic-inequality-we-did-an-experiment-to-find-out-163262">What do children think of economic inequality? We did an experiment to find out</a>
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<h2>Children’s potential is being stifled</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/">Programme for International Student Assessment</a> (PISA) conducts comparable academic tests of 15-year-old students in all OECD countries. Gaps in test performance between the most socioeconomically advantaged and the most disadvantaged students in Australia have <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/ozpisa/51/">hardly changed</a> since the surveys were launched in 2000. </p>
<p>The gaps for the most recent tests in 2018 represented around three years of education for reading, maths and science literacy. When students fall that far behind, it seriously blights their life chances.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/04250494.2019.1672502">Teachers recognise</a> that children living in poverty face many challenges that impact their learning and relationships. Children also talk about the challenges of poverty. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gerry-Redmond/publication/308894654_Material_Deprivation_and_Capability_Deprivation_in_the_Midst_of_Affluence_The_Case_of_Young_People_in_Australia/links/5af3a3d14585157136c9218f/Material-Deprivation-and-Capability-Deprivation-in-the-Midst-of-Affluence-The-Case-of-Young-People-in-Australia.pdf">One boy explained</a>: </p>
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<p>“My mum would take me to the op shop because I keep on splitting my pants when I kneel down but she can’t afford to buy me new pants. I don’t get pocket money and have to make my own lunch and sometimes I don’t even do that. I just go to school with no food.”</p>
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<p>That such experiences should be associated with poor educational outcomes is not surprising. What is surprising is how badly Australia’s education system is failing to achieve a key objective: to support all children to <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/download/4816/alice-springs-mparntwe-education-declaration/7180/alice-springs-mparntwe-education-declaration/pdf">reach their full educational potential</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/already-badly-off-single-parents-went-dramatically-backwards-during-covid-they-are-raising-our-future-adults-157767">Already badly off, single parents went dramatically backwards during COVID. They are raising our future adults</a>
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<h2>It’s time to focus again on child poverty</h2>
<p>Child poverty and children’s educational disadvantage require different solutions, but they are closely linked. The more poverty there is in Australia, the harder education systems and individual teachers have to work to compensate for its effect on student outcomes. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-2-0-there-is-evidence-inclusive-schooling-will-help-those-left-behind-95934">Gonski 2.0</a> package of school funding reforms, launched in 2018, aims to at least partially address educational disadvantage. However, it is unlikely to break the poverty-educational outcomes nexus on its own. </p>
<p>The challenge that Hawke set 35 years ago, to end child poverty in Australia, needs to be taken up again. Both the Hawke government’s actions in the years following his pledge and the current Australian government’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic show how this can be done. </p>
<p>After 1987, family payments were significantly increased and targeted to lower-income families. This increased support helped <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333915308_MAKING_A_DIFFERENCE_THE_IMPACT_OF_GOVERNMENT_POLICY_ON_CHILD_POVERTY_IN_AUSTRALIA_1982_TO_1997-98_Paper_Prepared_for_the_26th_General_Conference_of_the_International_Association_for_Research_in_Income">reduce child poverty</a>. </p>
<p>In 2020, in response to the growing COVID-19 emergency, the Morrison government introduced the JobKeeper payment and added the Coronavirus Supplement to the Jobseeker Allowance. Poverty rates <a href="https://povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Build-back-fairer-report-3_FINAL.pdf">declined</a>, at least temporarily, while these supports were in place. </p>
<p>Money does not solve all the problems of child disadvantage. But it <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12187-020-09782-0">does matter</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/young-australians-prospects-still-come-down-to-where-they-grow-up-102640">Young Australians' prospects still come down to where they grow up</a>
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<p>The next Australian government could follow Hawke’s example and set targets to reduce child poverty. History (in Australia and <a href="https://cpag.org.uk/recent-history-uk-child-poverty">elsewhere</a>) suggests that action will follow and child poverty will fall. </p>
<p>Reducing poverty will have positive flow-on effects for children’s well-being, development and educational outcomes. It will also represent a major step towards Australia achieving the UN <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal1">Sustainable Development Goal</a> of halving poverty rates of all men, women and children by 2030.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178426/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerry Redmond receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Australia has a wide gap in educational outcomes between children in poverty and their better-off peers. A new study indicates why reducing child poverty is the best way to lift our educational game.Gerry Redmond, Professor, College of Business, Government & Law, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1694472021-10-18T05:49:49Z2021-10-18T05:49:49ZThe kids who’d get the most out of extracurricular activities are missing out – here’s how to improve access<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426632/original/file-20211015-7373-1lrt0c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C0%2C4865%2C3233&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One-third of Australian children aged 12 to 13 in low-income suburbs do not take part in any extracurricular activities. That’s 2.5 times as many as those from higher-income suburbs – only 13% of them don’t take part – according to research we will present next week to the <a href="https://www.aspc.unsw.edu.au/3c-young-people-and-social-exclusion-future-policy-approaches-promote-inclusion">Australian Social Policy Conference</a>. Yet <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2020.1741328">research</a> also shows it is children from disadvantaged backgrounds who are likely to benefit most from taking part in extracurricular activities. </p>
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<img alt="Chart showing rates of participation in extracurricular activities by income status of suburb" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426617/original/file-20211015-13-si2ntv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426617/original/file-20211015-13-si2ntv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426617/original/file-20211015-13-si2ntv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426617/original/file-20211015-13-si2ntv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426617/original/file-20211015-13-si2ntv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1257&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426617/original/file-20211015-13-si2ntv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1257&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426617/original/file-20211015-13-si2ntv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1257&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Children from high-incomes suburbs are much more likely to take part in extracurricular activities than those in low-income areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Most children in Australia play a sport or take part in an extracurricular activity like dance, drama or Scouts. All of these activities can benefit their health and academic outcomes. For these children, such activities are typically available, accessible, affordable and safe. </p>
<p>However, many children who live outside major cities or in poorer suburbs face major barriers to participation. Cost is one obstacle. A <a href="https://www.missionaustralia.com.au/publications/youth-survey/1994-economic-disadvantage-mission-australia-s-youth-survey-2020-sub-report">Mission Australia report</a> shows young people whose parents are not in paid work have low rates of participation in sport and cultural activities. </p>
<p>Poor public transport access is another barrier. Low-income suburbs also often lack clubs and facilities to run extracurricular activities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/young-australians-prospects-still-come-down-to-where-they-grow-up-102640">Young Australians' prospects still come down to where they grow up</a>
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<h2>What help do governments offer?</h2>
<p>State and territory governments provide vouchers or subsidies to help families cover some of the costs of such activities. But the rules of these schemes can be arbitrary and inconsistent, and tackle only some of the barriers to participation. The schemes often exclude non-sporting activities, despite the academic and psychological <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0273229711000359?via%3Dihub">benefits matching or exceeding</a> those provided by sports. </p>
<p>The vouchers can typically be used to part-cover registration fees. Their value varies around the country: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>$100 per year in <a href="https://www.sportsvouchers.sa.gov.au/">South Australia</a></p></li>
<li><p>$150 per year in <a href="https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/sports/funding/fairplay">Queensland</a></p></li>
<li><p>$200 per year in <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/projects/active-kids-program">New South Wales</a>, <a href="https://nt.gov.au/leisure/sport/sport-and-swim-vouchers/sport-voucher-scheme-urban/get-sport-vouchers-for-your-child">Northern Territory</a> and <a href="https://www.communities.tas.gov.au/ticket-to-play">Tasmania</a></p></li>
<li><p>$300 per year in <a href="https://www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/funding/sport-and-recreation-funding/kidsport">Western Australia</a> </p></li>
<li><p>up to 100,000 $200 vouchers that can be claimed up to four times in 2021-22 in <a href="https://www.getactive.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Get-Active-Kids-Voucher-Program-Program-Guidelines-OCT-2021.pdf">Victoria</a>.</p></li>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426856/original/file-20211018-19-narjkm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of Australia showing the value of vouchers to subsidise children's extracurricular activities." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426856/original/file-20211018-19-narjkm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426856/original/file-20211018-19-narjkm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426856/original/file-20211018-19-narjkm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426856/original/file-20211018-19-narjkm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426856/original/file-20211018-19-narjkm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=722&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426856/original/file-20211018-19-narjkm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=722&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426856/original/file-20211018-19-narjkm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=722&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The value of subsidies for children’s extracurricular activities varies widely around Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>In some states and territories (Qld, Tas, Vic, WA) vouchers are restricted to children named on <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/health-care-card">health care cards</a> or <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/pensioner-concession-card">pensioner concession cards</a>. In others (NT, NSW, SA) the vouchers are more freely available. </p>
<p>When vouchers are widely available, affluent families and communities <a href="https://cdn.revolutionise.com.au/cups/sportnsw/files/jhootkbnczy2lg5z.pdf">tend to use them more</a>. Low-income families may not have the money to cover the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6947832/">full costs of taking part</a> in an activity, or may be <a href="https://cdn.revolutionise.com.au/cups/sportnsw/files/jhootkbnczy2lg5z.pdf">unaware of voucher schemes</a>, despite their greater need for help with costs.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/some-public-schools-get-nearly-6-times-as-much-funding-thanks-to-parents-117268">Some public schools get nearly 6 times as much funding, thanks to parents</a>
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<p>Sports vouchers do <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7798231/">increase sport participation</a>. Still, hefty out-of-pocket expenses remain. </p>
<p>Some clubs have taken <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-16/community-sport-free-for-kids-of-parents-who-volunteer/100140502">imaginative steps</a> towards reducing these costs, such as trading parent volunteer time for fees. But such approaches are not widely used and are not perfect.</p>
<h2>Support is needed beyond sport to close the gap</h2>
<p>While sports are great for development, lots of children also enjoy taking part in non-sporting activities. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273229711000359?via%3Dihub">Research shows</a> the academic and psychological benefits of these activities are equivalent to or can exceed those provided by sports. </p>
<p>In our research being presented next week, we found that children in more affluent communities typically reported high peer connectedness and school belonging, regardless of participation in activities. But children in disadvantaged communities who take part in extracurricular activities reported significantly higher outcomes compared to non-participants. They almost closed the gap with children in high-income communities. This effect emerged regardless of whether the activity was sporting or non-sporting.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426857/original/file-20211018-21-10hbi67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing measures of peer connectedness for students in low to high income suburbs who participate and don't participate in extracurricular activities." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426857/original/file-20211018-21-10hbi67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426857/original/file-20211018-21-10hbi67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426857/original/file-20211018-21-10hbi67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426857/original/file-20211018-21-10hbi67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426857/original/file-20211018-21-10hbi67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426857/original/file-20211018-21-10hbi67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426857/original/file-20211018-21-10hbi67.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Children from disadvantaged areas had lower peer connectedness but taking part in extracurricular activities almost closed the gap.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/refugee-students-struggle-with-displacement-and-trauma-here-are-3-ways-schools-can-help-them-belong-168387">Refugee students struggle with displacement and trauma. Here are 3 ways schools can help them belong</a>
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<p>Despite non-sporting activities having comparable benefits, most vouchers are limited to “sport and active recreation”. This generally includes dance but excludes other creative activities.</p>
<p>Only two jurisdictions (NT and NSW) explicitly offer vouchers that cover arts, music and cultural activities. The NT urban sport voucher scheme includes cultural and arts activities. NSW offers a universal $100 per year <a href="https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/campaign/creative-kids">Creative Kids voucher</a> (in addition to its Active Kids sports voucher). It’s specifically aimed at arts and cultural activities.</p>
<p>Not all children’s interests involve kicking a ball or doing laps in a pool. Arbitrarily excluding non-sporting activities from government subsidies may prevent disadvantaged children taking part in the activities they enjoy most. In contrast, more affluent families are better able to support these activities without government support.</p>
<p>Extracurricular activities occur outside the classroom and are not mandated by a set curriculum. Participation is therefore voluntary and the decision is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014019711630080X?casa_token=-UQ76Rc3GHoAAAAA:SEDK10yqBrXRwFcieK6NtrgLV4aLs1DxQooAG6628x6hCXaCBoW9uTbv6oRxGzPaQGoGk4ze">driven by interests</a> and a <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-17475-012">desire to be around friends</a>. </p>
<p>In deciding what activities to subsidise, governments are taking this decision away from children and their parents. Governments need to ensure the needs and wants of children are taken into account when providing subsidies.</p>
<h2>Subsidies alone are not enough</h2>
<p>Expanding subsidies to cover more expenses and activity types will increase participation. But subsidies can’t solve all the issues. </p>
<p>For a start, most activities cannot happen without suitable sports grounds or indoor spaces. For example, a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19406940.2019.1618892">lack of change rooms</a> sometimes hinders efforts to increase female sport participation. Similarly, children in poorer suburbs <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14733285.2018.1487031">may not feel welcome</a> in other suburbs where activities are taking place.</p>
<p>Local councils and schools have traditionally provided the infrastructure for extracurricular activities. However, some councils have gone a step further in co-ordinating access to these activities. For example, the <a href="https://www.playford.sa.gov.au/community/playford-10">City of Playford</a> in the northern suburbs of Adelaide partnered with government, philanthropic and community organisations to encourage all ten-year-olds to take part.</p>
<p>Some non-government <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-04/bridgewater-youth-misses-out-due-to-lack-of-sporting-venues/100263856">organisations and community leaders</a> have also developed promising local initiatives. Evaluation of these initiatives can hopefully inform future efforts around the country. We need a broader and more generous approach to help local organisations build thriving communities.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.aracy.org.au/documents/item/182">Experts and advocacy groups agree</a> that all children should have opportunities for extracurricular activity. Australia needs more schemes that enable children to take part in activities of their choice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169447/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerry Redmond receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Grant no. DP190100247) and the Australian Government Department of Health. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander William O'Donnell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Extracurricular activities help children from low-income suburbs close the gap between them and their better-off peers. But subsidies for these activities are patchy and often limited to sport.Alexander William O'Donnell, Research Associate, College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders UniversityGerry Redmond, Professor, College of Business, Government & Law, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1062702018-11-23T14:56:38Z2018-11-23T14:56:38ZScotland’s attainment gap: three ways to bridge the educational divide<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246919/original/file-20181122-182056-1kdyod4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock crop</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The UK has one of the most socially segregated school systems in the developed world, with <a href="https://theconversation.com/grammar-schools-why-academic-selection-only-benefits-the-very-affluent-74189">academic selection</a> – where children are admitted to a school on the basis of ability – and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jun/13/parental-choice-education-schools-chains">parental choice</a> at its core.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.oecd.org/about/">Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development</a> (OECD) believes this has a <a href="https://www.oecd.org/education/school/50293148.pdf">negative impact</a> on social equality and a young person’s ability to earn a good income in the future. OECD evidence shows that segregated schools present children with two different perspectives of the world and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19548597">affect their life chances</a>.</p>
<h2>Effects of poverty</h2>
<p>There is a strong link between a pupil’s socioeconomic status and <a href="http://www.parliament.scot/ResearchBriefingsAndFactsheets/S5/SB_16-68_Closing_The_Attainment_Gap_What_Can_Schools_Do.pdf">how well they do in school</a>. Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds have a higher chance of failing. Children and young people living in the most deprived communities do significantly worse at all levels of the education system than those from more affluent backgrounds. This is often referred to as the “<a href="http://www.parliament.scot/ResearchBriefingsAndFactsheets/S5/SB_16-68_Closing_The_Attainment_Gap_What_Can_Schools_Do.pdf">attainment gap</a>”.</p>
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<p>In Scotland, it is <a href="http://www.cpag.org.uk/scotland/child-poverty-facts-and-figures">estimated</a> that one in four children is living in poverty. <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/refreshTableAction.do?tab=table&plugin=1&pcode=tessi120&language=en">European Commission figures</a> suggest this is higher than in many other countries in Europe and the <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/about">Institute for Fiscal Studies</a> (IFS) <a href="http://www.cpag.org.uk/scotland/child-poverty-facts-and-figures">predicts</a> that more than one-third of children in the UK will be living in poverty by 2021/22.</p>
<p>In 2016, Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, declared that the Scottish government would “draw on successful ideas from around the world” to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds and close the attainment gap. She <a href="https://news.gov.scot/speeches-and-briefings/priorities-speech-taking-scotland-forward">introduced</a> a range of initiatives, not only in the education sector, but across health, childcare, social services, welfare and employment. </p>
<p>Some of these measures introduced as a matter of urgency have already proved controversial, such as the <a href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scottish-government-accused-of-deceiving-parents-over-p1-national-testing-1-4778457">national testing of P1 pupils</a> (a standardised assessment for five-year-olds designed to measure the attainment gap) which parents and teachers complained had caused some children distress. Schools play a significant role, but the initiatives adopted need to follow a long arc of slow structural change. Short-term political fixes have been tried for decades, yet people in Scotland and the rest of the UK continue to live in a deeply unequal society divided by class, income and poverty.</p>
<h2>Following the Finns</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/12/safe-happy-and-free-does-finland-have-all-the-answers">Finland</a> is widely recognised as being an <a href="https://www.oph.fi/download/146428_Finnish_Education_in_a_Nutshell.pdf">educational success story</a>. Like Scotland, it has a population of around five million which shares the same culture, language and a keen sense of social justice. But after World War 2 the Finns recognised that a society divided by class and poverty would weaken their country further, so they embarked on <a href="http://ijse.padovauniversitypress.it/system/files/papers/2014_2_3.pdf">long-term structural reform</a> abolishing private and selective schools in favour of a system in which every child would attend high-quality state schools. The Finns reduced socioeconomic inequality by reducing inequality in the education system.</p>
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<p>Having different educational provisions and greater freedom for parents to choose their preferred school may seem democratic, but it leads to a country that separates children and damages the very fabric of democracy it seeks to champion. I think there are three fundamental ways to help bridge the educational divide in Scotland.</p>
<p>First, as the Finns have done, the government should look beyond parental choice and introduce the “<a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/46581035.pdf">common school</a>” which provides basic comprehensive education to serve all children equally well, regardless of family background. Not just a form of school organisation, the idea of the common school embodies a philosophy of education as well as a deep <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/46581035.pdf">set of values</a> about what all children need and deserve.</p>
<p>Second, the quality of teachers and teaching is crucial for effective learning and can have a demonstrable impact on a disadvantaged pupil’s prospects. Teachers need to be paid at a level that will attract top graduates, so that the profession becomes more appealing and valued.</p>
<p><a href="https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2018/united-kingdom_eag-2018-70-en#page1">According</a> to the OECD the UK has one of the least well-paid and youngest teaching workforces in the EU, predominantly populated by women. Because teaching is a highly skilled profession, only teachers who are <a href="https://www2.gov.scot/resource/doc/337626/0110852.pdf">academically well-qualified</a>, research literate and socially committed should be encouraged to teach Scotland’s children.</p>
<h2>Freedom and trust</h2>
<p>A long-term solution for reducing the attainment gap is to restore a culture of responsibility and trust within the education system that values teacher and headteacher professionalism in judging what is best for students. The Scottish government has <a href="https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/pupil-attainment/">pledged £120m</a> directly to headteachers, which although considered a sound idea by the OECD, has been met with concern due to a lack of clear guidance on how this money should be spent.</p>
<p>Striking a balance between accountability and autonomy, with greater levels of responsibility, flexibility and freedom to be creative in addressing pupils’ needs takes time. <a href="https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2018/united-kingdom_eag-2018-70-en#page6">Research</a> suggests that encouraging schools to make their own decisions about how best to support their pupils to do well is essential for closing the attainment gap.</p>
<p>Third, the <a href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/reading-standards-in-scotland-falling-behind-uk-study-warns-1-4512105">standard of literacy has fallen</a> in Scotland over the past four years. Literacy and life chances are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/sep/08/reading-literacy-uk-cbi-schools-read-on-get-on-campaign">closely linked</a>, and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/libraries-deliver-ambition-for-public-libraries-in-england-2016-to-2021/libraries-deliver-ambition-for-public-libraries-in-england-2016-to-2021">evidence</a> suggests that libraries can contribute to improving quality of life for all. Starting with areas that have been designated as <a href="https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/SIMD">deprived</a>, new public libraries should be built or existing community libraries transformed.</p>
<p>Raising the level of literacy is not just about the child, it has to involve the literacy of families and communities too. As we see in places such as Finland and Singapore, public libraries can serve as the educational and cultural bedrock of a community, and could help work towards closing the attainment gap.</p>
<p>Persistent poverty exacerbated by budget cuts and coupled with entrenched mindsets in government and education are all obstacles in the current climate. There is an urgent need to think out of the box and to re-imagine long-term solutions to reverse the inequalities that face disadvantaged children in Scotland.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106270/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geetha Marcus does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The education system needs an urgent re-think to give children from disadvantaged backgrounds a better chance in life.Geetha Marcus, Lecturer in Education, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/920612018-02-20T13:55:00Z2018-02-20T13:55:00ZGrowing up in poverty weakens later health – even if you escape it<p>Poverty remains a widespread problem. In the UK, <a href="http://www.cpag.org.uk/child-poverty-facts-and-figures">30% of children</a> are growing up in poverty. More than half of these children are in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-poverty-60-per-cent-working-families-uk-jobs-employed-study-tax-credits-housing-university-a7751201.html">working households</a>, and poverty is on the rise even for children whose parents work in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/surge-in-poverty-rates-among-children-of-public-sector-worker-parents-a8211166.html">government-funded jobs</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/ageing/afy003">new research</a> from the University of Geneva, these children may be at risk of poorer health in adulthood – even if they escape poverty later in life. This suggests that childhood adversity doesn’t just affect our choices, but also directly compromises the biological ability of our bodies to stay healthy. </p>
<p>Our childhood affects our health across the course of our lives. Stress, it seems, is a major contributor. While a life lived with financial, educational and social security and stability may not be free of worries, a disadvantaged childhood means <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8624.00469/full">more exposure to a number of difficult circumstances and events</a>. These may include social tensions, domestic abuse, neglect, food and fuel poverty, unsafe or poor quality housing, and separation from caregivers.</p>
<p>These life events understandably cause stress. Most of us will have personal experience of responding to pressure at work or a relationship breakdown with ice cream, cigarettes or alcohol, or giving the gym a miss. When facing financial troubles, the health benefits of vegetables can seem trivial to parents in the face of the time- and money-saving virtues of junk food. Feeling like you do not have enough food, money, time, or friends <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/338/6107/682">occupies the mind</a> so that there is less space to focus on decisions with long-term pay-offs.</p>
<p>Experiencing these feelings over a long period of time (rather than the shorter-term stress experienced when applying for a job or studying for an exam) can make it increasingly difficult to make healthy choices. Over a lifetime, choices add up. But this latest research suggests that chronic stress impacts more than just our choices.</p>
<h2>What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker</h2>
<p>In the new study of over 24,000 people across 14 countries, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/ageing/afy003">researchers</a> found that individuals, particularly women, of lower socioeconomic status in childhood had lower hand grip strength in older adulthood – a reliable health indicator, predicting the risk of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/32/6/650/13078">frailty</a>, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.03145.x/full">disability</a>, and death from <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/36/1/228/665601">cardiovascular disease and cancer</a> in older age.</p>
<p>While health-related behaviours such as exercise, nutrition, smoking and alcohol consumption were partially responsible for this link, adults from poorer backgrounds had weaker grip strength even if their socio-economic status improved later in life. This suggests that a tougher start in life has a direct, biological and lasting effect on an individual’s ability to stay healthy.</p>
<p>We already know that children suffering from long-term stress build up <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301051107002013">higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol</a>, making the body’s response to threats from the outside world change. Chronic stress in childhood is related to <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/2/319">a host of diseases</a> through mechanisms such as poorer mental health, changes in the body’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159112001821">immune response</a> to infection and injury, and increased blood pressure. </p>
<p>Now, we have evidence that growing up in poverty has a cumulative wear-and-tear effect on the physiological systems that govern how our bodies respond to our environment, permanently disrupting the ability of affected individuals to maintain good health in old age.</p>
<p>While more work is still needed to understand how early adversity affects our immune system and other physiological systems in later life, one thing is already clear. To make our society less stressed, happier and healthier, we need to recognise just how crucial a role hardship in childhood plays in determining an individual’s long-term health.</p>
<p>The argument that poverty and poor health are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953696001918">down to laziness or lack of willpower</a> is itself lazy and too often thrown around. Poverty in early life affects not only how capable the mind is of making the right choices, but also how the body responds to adversity at a fundamental level. Far from being a resource drain, investing money in improving children’s quality of life could improve a <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/2/319">range of health outcomes</a>, and dramatically reduce the burden on a health-care budget stretched by the vast capital needed to care for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/01/ageing-britain-two-fifths-nhs-budget-spent-over-65s">older people</a>.</p>
<p>Rock star Marilyn Manson got it right with the lyrics for Leave A Scar. What doesn’t kill you, in many ways, <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/insight-therapy/201008/what-doesnt-kill-you-makes-you-weaker">makes you weaker</a>. Those who thrive amid deprivation do so in spite of, rather than because of, the difficulties they experience. Many less fortunate people will struggle to stay fit and well despite making healthy choices. We could do with providing them with a little more support, and a little less judgement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92061/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Noortje Uphoff does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Childhood adversity doesn’t just affect our choices – according to new research, it also weakens the body’s fundamental ability to stay healthy in old age.Noortje Uphoff, Researcher in Social Epidemiology, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/833152017-09-06T09:40:56Z2017-09-06T09:40:56ZDisadvantaged Indonesians defy the perception that they’re not interested in reading<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184164/original/file-20170831-22614-94cm2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">School children read books at Palipis beach in Mandar, West Sulawesi.
The books were brought by library boat
Pattingalloang, which was part of a network of moving libraries called Pustaka Bergerak.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Urwa/Pustaka Bergerak</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It was a sunny day at a public elementary school in a rural area near Yogyakarta. Students lined up to return the books borrowed from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/helobookproject/">Helobook</a>, a non-profit organisation that regularly lends books for free to schools in the province’s outskirts.</p>
<p>The kids looked happy and laughed a lot because this was their opportunity to access new, interesting books and movies. </p>
<p>Their school’s own library collection was mostly made up of books from government aid in 1990s, published by state-owned publisher Balai Pustaka. The books were out of date and there weren’t enough of them.</p>
<p>These students were also disadvantaged by the fact that their nearest book store is 15 kilometres away and the nearest public library is about 20 kilometres away. This is a problem because these students are from low-income families who can’t afford to travel to borrow books.</p>
<h2>Are Indonesians interested in reading?</h2>
<p>Low rates of interest in reading among Indonesians is something frequently referenced in news reports from media like <em>Kompas</em>, <em><a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/24/as-illiteracy-rate-lowers-ri-struggles-with-reading-habits.html">The Jakarta Post</a></em> and <em>Antara</em>, which quote data supposedly sourced from UNESCO. These stories quote that one in every 1,000 Indonesians has a high interest in reading. But an exploration of <a href="http://uis.unesco.org">UNESCO’s database</a> and a request for this data have both failed to confirm these statistics. </p>
<p>This perception has also been reinforced by <a href="http://www.antaranews.com/berita/644733/kemdikbud-sebut-melek-huruf-tinggi-tapi-minat-baca-rendah?">officials</a> and <a href="http://www.antaranews.com/berita/646185/najwa-shihab-minat-baca-masyarakat-indonesia-rendah">public figures</a>, who have raised the same concerns. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182737/original/file-20170821-27163-1ld39os.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182737/original/file-20170821-27163-1ld39os.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182737/original/file-20170821-27163-1ld39os.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182737/original/file-20170821-27163-1ld39os.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182737/original/file-20170821-27163-1ld39os.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182737/original/file-20170821-27163-1ld39os.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182737/original/file-20170821-27163-1ld39os.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Students of public elementary school in Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, look at books brought by literacy community Helobook.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukman Solihin</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Last year, a Central Connecticut State University study put Indonesia’s literacy rate at <a href="http://www.ccsu.edu/wmln/rank.html">60th out of 61 countries</a>, one above Botswana. Officials and public figures also quote this but the ranking is not about reading interest. It’s about computer access, newspaper circulation, and reading comprehension, among other things.</p>
<p>A National Socio-Economic Survey by Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency showed the country’s TV audience reached 91.5% in 2015 while newspaper readers sat at <a href="https://www.bps.go.id/linkTableDinamis/view/id/1234">13.1%</a>, the lowest point <a href="https://www.bps.go.id/index.php/publikasi/1053">since 1984</a>.</p>
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<p>This low rate of reading might not be due to a lack of interest but rather a lack of opportunity to read.</p>
<h2>Book access and library condition</h2>
<p>Let’s take a look at the data that could serve as a parameter to understand reading interest. First, school library data. </p>
<p>In 147,503 primary schools we only have 90,642 libraries, that’s 61.45%. The percentage shrinks more when we look at the condition. From the total 90,642 libraries, only <a href="http://publikasi.data.kemdikbud.go.id/uploadDir/isi_D6E092C3-2946-412F-BFDA-F208409F6E0C_.pdf">28,137</a> are in good condition (19% of schools, 31% of total libraries). Junior high and high schools have similar situation.</p>
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<p>The quantity of village or subdistrict libraries is the same. From 77,095 villages, Indonesia has only <a href="http://perpusnas.go.id/2016/02/rapat-koordinasi-nasional-bidang-perpustakaan-tahun-2016-perpustakaan-di-indonesia-telah-memperoleh-kemajuan-dalam-kuantitas-maupun-kualitas/">23,281</a> libraries or about 30%. </p>
<p>The number of book stores is also much lower compared to the vastness of the archipelago. The biggest book store network, Gramedia, has only 100 stores in only a handful of big cities, out of the 514 cities and regencies of Indonesia.</p>
<p>The number of book stores, school and public libraries show how limited the access to books is for many Indonesians. How would people develop some reading interest if access to books is limited? </p>
<h2>Library quality and communities of readers</h2>
<p>Nurturing reading interest begins with making books available. Unfortunately, the number and condition of school and public libraries are far from adequate. Some school libraries might have a decent building, but the collection is an entirely different matter.</p>
<p>Libraries often serve a dual purpose, such as a storage room or sports hall. One library in Sleman in Yogyakarta, for example, is complete with a ping pong table to indicate its “flexible” function.</p>
<p>The government has instructed schools to allocate budget – increased to <a href="https://psmk.kemdikbud.go.id/konten/2560/permendikbud-nomor-26-tahun-2017-petunjuk-teknis-bantuan-operasional-sekolah">20%</a> of the government school funds in July from previously 5% – for library development and buying textbooks. But most of the funds are spent to buy school textbooks. The result is underdeveloped reading interests among students because of the inadequate book collection; students are bored with outdated books.</p>
<p>Amid this inadequacy, communities of readers in these have proven valuable. These communities open mini libraries in neighbourhoods. One example is the moving library network, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/287826228216481/">Pustaka Bergerak</a>. The growth of these communities is massive and sporadic, as readers reaching out to underrepresented and remote areas.</p>
<p>The government estimated there were over <a href="https://kemdikbud.go.id/kemdikbud/dokumen/BukuRingkasanDataPendidikan/6-TBM-2011-rev.pdf">6,000 mini libraries</a> across the country. Meanwhile, as of August 2017, the <a href="https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/a-quixotic-mission-indonesias-library-on-horseback/?mcubz=0">Pustaka Bergerak</a> network recorded reaching 312 communities, and <a href="http://www.posindonesia.co.id/index.php/daftar-alamat-taman-bacaan-masyarakat/">counting</a>.</p>
<p>This network has library ponies, libraries on rickshaw, libraries on bicycles, libraries on boats, and even a mobile herbal drinks seller that brings books to lend for free. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182662/original/file-20170819-7956-1qd5dkx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182662/original/file-20170819-7956-1qd5dkx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182662/original/file-20170819-7956-1qd5dkx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182662/original/file-20170819-7956-1qd5dkx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182662/original/file-20170819-7956-1qd5dkx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182662/original/file-20170819-7956-1qd5dkx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182662/original/file-20170819-7956-1qd5dkx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Villagers, mostly children, welcome a library pony in Rangkasbitung, Banten province. The volunteer spirit of literacy communities helps develop reading interests in off-the-beaten-track places in Indonesia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani/Pustaka Bergerak</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This movement has had a positive response from the government. After a meeting between literacy activists and President Joko Widodo on May 2 this year, the government, through state postal company PT Pos Indonesia, allowed citizens to send books free of charge to the communities registered in <a href="http://www.posindonesia.co.id/index.php/daftar-alamat-taman-bacaan-masyarakat/">this list</a> on the 17th day every month. </p>
<h2>Small in scale but big in spirit</h2>
<p>Communities of readers are usually built on the members’ love of books and their aspiration to share. Enthusiasm, idealism and capacity to build network are key to the growth of literacy communities and have less to do with the existence or the absence of government funds.</p>
<p>The network has been facilitated by Community Libraries Forum, initiated by the government. Pustaka Bergerak network has also shown great passion in their social media account, enabled by initiator Nirwan Ahmad Arsuka.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182663/original/file-20170819-22783-u3b6wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182663/original/file-20170819-22783-u3b6wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182663/original/file-20170819-22783-u3b6wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182663/original/file-20170819-22783-u3b6wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182663/original/file-20170819-22783-u3b6wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182663/original/file-20170819-22783-u3b6wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182663/original/file-20170819-22783-u3b6wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children borrow books brought by a library pony in Manokwari, West Papua.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ali Sunarko/Pustaka Bergerak</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The number of these communities of readers, compared to the geographical and population size of the country, is perhaps minuscule. Nevertheless, this movement deserves an appreciation for its impact: nurture reading interest.</p>
<p>An example of the success of these communities is <a href="http://www.rumahdunia.org">Pustakaloka Rumah Dunia</a> in Serang, Banten. This community enabled a scavenger’s son to finish higher education, a fried snack seller to become a journalist, and a farmer’s son to become a poet. Their stories are compiled in a book <a href="http://www.penerbitkpg.id/book/relawan-dunia/">Relawan Dunia</a> (World Volunteers).</p>
<p>Discovering books also changed Muhidin Dahlan’s life. He was a kampung boy in Sulawesi’s remote area, who was curious about books, before he moved to Yogyakarta to become a writer and an activist in Indonesia Boekoe, a community known for its dedication in archive management, book publishing and establishing <a href="http://muhidindahlan.radiobuku.com/">Radio Buku</a>. His story is written in a book, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1772870.Aku_Buku_dan_Sepotong_Sajak_Cinta"><em>Aku, Buku, dan Sepotong Sajak Cinta</em></a>.</p>
<p>Unlike formal education institutions like schools, the success of reader communities is not measured quantitatively, like how many people have their access to books improved, or how large their book collection is. But the lack of impact in this area is dwarfed by their spirit, their effort to share the importance of books and the efforts to help others access books. Literacy, in this case, is not merely about reading materials and knowledge, but also about volunteer spirit.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The author is doing a research on literacy movement by communities in Yogyakarta, in Anthropology Department in Gadjah Mada University.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83315/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lukman Solihin menerima dana Beasiswa Unggulan dari Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.</span></em></p>Indonesian politicians and public figures say Indonesians have a low interest in reading. But people in disadvantaged areas defy this perception; they always welcome new books with joy.Lukman Solihin, Researcher, Indonesian Education Standard, Curriculum, and Assessment Agency (BSKAP Kemdikbudristek)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/781782017-05-24T05:06:46Z2017-05-24T05:06:46ZPoor kids hit puberty sooner and risk a lifetime of health problems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170686/original/file-20170524-5749-1mdge6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It can be a tough time for children going through the physical and emotional changes of puberty. And if they enter puberty early, the health impacts can stay with them for life.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/525638404?src=Zg0uuHb8KUaaM5_85T6a_w-1-9&size=medium_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Shape-shifting bodies. Cracking voices. Hairs sprouting in new places. Puberty marks a dramatic period of change for young people. Now new research shows children who grow up in poor homes enter puberty early.</p>
<p>Not only do they experience more emotional, behavioural and social problems compared to their peers, early puberty puts them at risk of a range of health issues for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>The research, published today in the journal <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/">Pediatrics</a>, adds to a body of work showing the cumulative effect of adversity in childhood can have lifelong physical, mental and behavioural repercussions.</p>
<p>However, the reason why these disadvantaged children enter puberty early remains unclear. And work is continuing to pinpoint factors that trigger the cascade of hormones that mark this critical period of development.</p>
<h2>What is puberty?</h2>
<p>Puberty is an inherently awkward transition in which a child’s body matures to allow reproduction.</p>
<p>In girls, it typically begins with breast development between the ages of eight and 13 and ends with menarche, or the first period. In boys, puberty begins between ages nine and 14, on average, starting with growth of the sexual organs and wrapping up with facial hair and a deepened voice.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170674/original/file-20170523-5790-ymkul8.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170674/original/file-20170523-5790-ymkul8.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170674/original/file-20170523-5790-ymkul8.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170674/original/file-20170523-5790-ymkul8.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170674/original/file-20170523-5790-ymkul8.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170674/original/file-20170523-5790-ymkul8.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170674/original/file-20170523-5790-ymkul8.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What causes puberty? One of Science’s 125 big questions of all time that still remains unanswered today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/309/5731/news-summaries">Science/AAAS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But changes at puberty are not all physical. Puberty also triggers rapid biological and social change, and increasing risk for <a href="https://theconversation.com/growing-up-too-fast-early-puberty-and-mental-illness-13159">psychological health problems</a>, like depression and anxiety, substance use and abuse, self-harm and eating disorders.</p>
<p>We still don’t know exactly what triggers the cascade of hormone secretions that, over time, produces these tell-tale changes. And “What triggers puberty?” was one of the 125 questions posed in Science magazine’s 125th anniversary edition in 2005 that still remains unanswered today.</p>
<p>In particular, we still don’t know exactly what <em>causes</em> some children to enter puberty earlier than others, although there have been many factors <em>linked</em> to early puberty.</p>
<p>These include <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122606?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3Dpubmed&">childhood obesity</a>, being born <a href="https://academic.oup.com/aje/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/aje/kws159">small for gestational age</a> and exposure to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article-lookup/doi/10.1210/jc.2015-2706">environmental chemicals</a>. Other researchers have linked early puberty with <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41995770?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">living with a stepfather</a> or having experienced <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26358357">stressful life events</a>, such as childhood maltreatment and abuse.</p>
<h2>What we did</h2>
<p>Previous studies looking into social impacts on the timing of puberty have had mixed results. While one Indian study found poor girls started their periods <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ijamh.2015.27.issue-4/ijamh-2014-0056/ijamh-2014-0056.xml">later than normal</a>, a UK study found girls who grew up the poorest were twice as likely to have started their periods <a href="http://adc.bmj.com/content/102/3/232.long">earlier</a> than the richest.</p>
<p>So, we carried out the first study of its kind in Australia to see how cumulative exposure to social disadvantage affected the age children entered puberty.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170684/original/file-20170524-5790-1ucy3v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170684/original/file-20170524-5790-1ucy3v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170684/original/file-20170524-5790-1ucy3v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170684/original/file-20170524-5790-1ucy3v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170684/original/file-20170524-5790-1ucy3v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170684/original/file-20170524-5790-1ucy3v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170684/original/file-20170524-5790-1ucy3v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We asked whether children had gone through puberty at the age of 10-11 then matched their answers with family income levels and other indicators.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/374710399?src=Zg0uuHb8KUaaM5_85T6a_w-1-4&size=medium_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We asked parents of 3,700 children in the <a href="http://www.growingupinaustralia.gov.au/">Growing Up in Australia Study</a> to report signs of their children’s puberty at age eight to nine, and then again at ten to 11. Signs included: a growth spurt, pubic hair and skin changes; breast growth and menstruation in girls; and voice deepening and facial hair in boys.</p>
<p>We then compared the family’s socioeconomic position – as measured by their parent’s annual income, education and employment – of those who started puberty early with others who started on time.</p>
<p>At ten to 11 years old, about 19% of boys and 21% of girls were classified in the early puberty group. In other words, they had entered puberty earlier compared to their counterparts.</p>
<p>Boys from very disadvantaged homes had a four-fold increase in the rate of early puberty, while girls’ risk increased nearly two-fold compared with kids that came from the richest families.</p>
<h2>How could this happen?</h2>
<p>Research on the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/Supplement_2/17143.full">biology of stress</a> shows how major adversity, like extreme poverty, can permanently set the body’s stress response to high alert, affecting the brain’s circuits. This might, in turn, influence how reproductive hormones are regulated, so affecting the timing and trajectory of puberty.</p>
<p>Another body of research <a href="http://physiologyonline.physiology.org/content/26/6/412.long">suggests</a> the social environment can influence so-called <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-epigenetics-13877">epigenetic changes</a> in our genes. These changes might affect the regulation of genes involved in reproductive development, switching some on or off sooner than usual.</p>
<p>Another <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2004-20177-005">theory</a> is that in the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1991.tb01558.x/full">face of hardship</a> – for instance, economic disadvantage, harsh physical environment, the absence of a father – children may be programmed to start the reproductive process earlier to ensure their genes are passed on to the next generation.</p>
<p>Yet, we still don’t know exactly how poverty or disadvantage triggers early puberty.</p>
<h2>Why this matters</h2>
<p>What we do know, however, is early puberty is linked with a range of <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/121/Supplement_3/S218">health issues</a>.</p>
<p>For instance, in girls, it’s linked with emotional, behavioural and social problems during adolescence including: depressive disorders, substance disorders, eating disorders and earlier-than-usual displays of sexuality.</p>
<p>Early puberty also affects people’s health far beyond their teenage years. It places them at a <a href="http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v37/n8/full/ijo2012177a.html">greater risk</a> of developing obesity, reproductive cancers and cardiometabolic diseases (diabetes, heart disease or stroke) in later life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ying Sun is originally from Anhui Medical University, China.</span></em></p>Shape-shifting bodies. Cracking voices. Hairs sprouting in new places. Why do some children enter puberty early?Ying Sun, Associate Professor and Visiting Academic, Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Children's Research InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/728272017-03-07T12:41:53Z2017-03-07T12:41:53ZIt’s not what sport children play, but how they play it that matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159628/original/image-20170306-20759-5sayd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sport is massive and it’s everywhere: on TV, in videogames, and on the streets. As a consequence, myths about the inherent greatness of sport have grown. One such myth is the belief that <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19406940802681186?journalCode=risp20">sport itself is ideally suited</a> to help disadvantaged young people develop “socially” and “psychologically”. And that sport is capable of teaching “teamwork” or “leadership”. </p>
<p>It is frequent to hear phrases such as “rugby teaches discipline”, or “football teaches teamwork”. And what these sentences have in common is the assumption that there is an inherent, almost magical, quality in both rugby and football. </p>
<p>On the basis of this assumption, disadvantaged young people are encouraged to join youth sport programmes which use sport as an educational tool. The goal of these programmes – which are frequently run by <a href="http://www.accesssport.org.uk/">charities</a> – is to develop young people into “good citizens” by teaching them “life skills” – like teamwork or discipline. </p>
<p>Unfortunately though it isn’t quite that simple.</p>
<h2>The value of sport</h2>
<p>While hearing someone say “rugby teaches leadership” does not sound jarring, if one of your friends were to suggest that “finger painting teaches leadership”, you would stare at them in disbelief. </p>
<p>The source of this disbelief stems from what have become commonsense understandings about the value of sport. These <a href="http://civicyouth.org/PopUps/WorkingPapers/WP44Fullinwider.pdf">understandings are that sport</a> “naturally” teaches “leadership”, “teamwork”, or “critical thinking”. </p>
<p>In turn, these commonsense understandings have become deeply entrenched in the way society values sport. Though there is <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029211000744">evidence</a> that sport – when delivered appropriately – can help young people develop, the picture is more complex. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159629/original/image-20170306-20759-1blaj55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159629/original/image-20170306-20759-1blaj55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159629/original/image-20170306-20759-1blaj55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159629/original/image-20170306-20759-1blaj55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159629/original/image-20170306-20759-1blaj55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159629/original/image-20170306-20759-1blaj55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159629/original/image-20170306-20759-1blaj55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Can hockey really improve children’s leadership skills?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For instance, one of the most popular perceptions about the value of team sports is that they teach “teamwork”. But what about when young players become frustrated at teammates for having inferior technical and tactical skills? </p>
<p>It may well be that not a great deal of teamwork is being learned when these proficient players make less skilled teammates feel inadequate and unwelcome because of their limited ability. And this is why we should be cautious about the assumed educational value of rugby (or any other sport) over any other activity – like finger painting.</p>
<h2>I respect you, you respect me</h2>
<p>But despite all this, charities frequently document cases of young people developing life skills such as <a href="http://impact.youthsporttrust.org/">confidence and determination</a> through sport. The voluntary sector are certainly not making these results up, so as part of my PhD research I wanted to explore this link between sport and young people’s development. I interviewed coaches and young people (aged 12-15) at a youth sports charity as well as observing coaching sessions. </p>
<p>The young people I spoke to, highlighted their devotion for their coaches because they felt these adults cared about them as human beings. Coaches established a relationship summarised by a young girl as: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s not you respect me. It’s an I respect you, you respect me thing. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It was clear that the young people also loved the activity they did. They loved playing a particular sport, alongside a particular coach. Young people also expressed why having a sense of belonging mattered to them. They liked the environment of their coaching sessions and felt welcomed in it. It was a space where they could participate in an activity they enjoyed, with people they liked, all while feeling part of something bigger. </p>
<h2>The hidden variable</h2>
<p>Through observing and talking to young people and their coaches, I found that while sport itself does not improve young people’s development, the “hidden” variables of passion, relationships and a sense of belonging, genuinely do. So when it comes to young people’s social and psychological development, the focus should not be on which sport to play, but on how sport is used. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159630/original/image-20170306-20775-11hs2zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159630/original/image-20170306-20775-11hs2zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159630/original/image-20170306-20775-11hs2zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159630/original/image-20170306-20775-11hs2zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159630/original/image-20170306-20775-11hs2zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159630/original/image-20170306-20775-11hs2zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159630/original/image-20170306-20775-11hs2zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Create meaningful relationships and foster a sense of belonging.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If a youth sport programme focuses on unlocking young people’s passion, developing meaningful relationships and fostering a sense of belonging, these programmes can be extraordinarily powerful. </p>
<p>What this means is that sport can be a great educational tool, but so can many other interests or pursuits. And instilling passion, relationships, and a sense of belonging is something any activity – such as finger painting or stamp collecting – can achieve. As the saying goes “it’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it”, and that couldn’t be more apparent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72827/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ioannis Costas Batlle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Does sport really improve young people’s development?Ioannis Costas Batlle, PhD Researcher in Education, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.